Great artists think alike

[Jacki Hopper]

That’s my sentiments too…. MLT have that impact on folks… Their Music heals… Brings Joy and Positivity laughter… Calming… Inspires… Creates friendships… Today’s music landscape… For the most part…. Just lacks the caliber and craftsmanship that music of long ago… Prior to 1990… Anything from 1920s – 1960s was the best time for music…. Some 1970s – 1980s stuff works…. But from mid 1990s onwards… Somewhere… The calbre and such got lost… Went Awol…. With exception of a few local area and a few Canadian bands I still enjoy music of as for /to me… Have that Musicianship I can appreciate right up there with MLT…. Sorry to say but there are few mainstream stuff I care about these days… If an indie band or singer strikes a musical Chord with me nowadays… It has to be because the music spoke to me in a sense…. That’s my 2 cents worth here????☮️

[Jung Roe]

Thanks Jacki for your input.

I agree with everything you said. It seems back in the 60’s and 70’s if a band comes up that sounds good, record labels would produce them, and the listening consumers would vote by buying their records if they liked the music.  And if the music was not good, poor sales would exclude that band from being produced any further.  So good music and talent would be rewarded by good record sales.

Nowadays it seems record labels are completely risk adverse, and try to create a genre of music that sells through a kind of brainwashing via advertising and clever marketing, and creating an image of what is supposedly good cool/hip music, and then type cast new bands into a mold, that they believe will be successful.  So the listening public is basically spoon fed what the “experts” believe is good music.  Creativity and inspiration goes out the door, and pretty soon everything sounds the same and predictable, which is the sad state of affairs with modern processed pop music today.

Problem is those fewer bands with real talent and inspired music to offer are lost in a cloud of garbage created by the monopoly which is the modern music industry/record labels.

[Jung Roe]

Reposting here as the original post formatting seemed to have corrupted.

In the recent Paul McCartney interview of 2018, Paul said he was

“…very proud that the Beatles output was really positive.”

This is in reference to some of their songs like Black Bird, Hey Jude, and Let it Be.

Paul said:

“there’s people out there going through problems,….and hopefully people will listen to our music and realize it’s not just me alone going through this…and I can fix it”

Here is a link to the interview:

https://youtu.be/u97_inloBmY

With MLT’s music, songs like, “The Wide, Wide, Land”, “Nothing Is In Vain”,  “No More Worries Company”, “Close to You”, “Once Upon a Time”, “It’s Alright”,  “In It For Love” etc… are all very positive leaving the listener with a sense of hope and some insight.  MLT music is about making a positive impact on people’s lives which Mona and Lisa take pride in just as Paul McCartney does with their Beatles music.  Great artists think alike!

Lisa said:

“But really, the moments I found most fulfilling and “right”, were often reading the emails or comments from people who told us about the effect our music has had on their lives…but we are trying to add as much joy and value to this planet for as long as we can before we check out.”

Mona said:

“Even though we usually play a lot of covers we’ve never been a “cover band” and while we did our fair bit of grinding and collecting hours on sweaty, small stages we’ve always done it to hone our craft and experience the dynamics of live playing rather than for the money…..Because of that we have never not been excited about a gig.”

Pop music today is missing this and listeners today want to go back in time to more positive music too.  Mona and Lisa bring a ray of hope and sunshine into people’s lives through their music just as the Beatles music have been for many decades.

[Michael Rife]

Hi all;

Since it is early AM and I am on the PC looking through the topics in the Clubhouse, it has to mean another bout of back problems…..even though, this topic piqued my interest.  For me MLT gave me some hope about the state of current music.  They really do go back to the 1960s type music and have added their unique blend to it.  Having lived through music in the 1960s, 1970s, etc…….it seems like artists were more willing to take chances then and now they are very formulaic.  If someone tries a new style these days and it is successful, you can be guaranteed that others will try to copy that style, e.g., Adele.

But, MLT have taken the best from that time period…very strong harmonies, prominent guitars, and once in a while a new twist (flute).  It reminds me of the Beatles a bit…..if you listen to the Beatles’ early harmonies (If I Fell, This Boy, etc.), it was really unique for the time and it left me wondering how they did that.   The Beatles, mostly tapping into the knowledge of George Martin, used various different instruments in their songs.  And, as far as guitars go, the Beatles really had three lead guitarists…..each one with their unique style.

Going over the last 50 years of music……I believe that 1964 to around 1975 was the strongest period…..a renaissance of sorts.  It started with the “British Invasion” led by the Beatles (Keith Richards is quoted as saying the Beatles kicked the door down for other groups from England), next came the US response to it by the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield and CSN(Y) among others.  Concurrent with the Beatles there was that Dylan guy who was a throw-back to Woody Guthrie and S & G who were innovative. After that a multitude of individual singer-songwriters (JT, Gordon Lightfoot really didn’t catch on until 1970, Joni, Ronstadt, Carly Simon, Paul Simon, Elton John, and others).  New innovative bands were still important during this time:  LZ (still not my cup of tea), 10cc (really innovative), Queen (ditto), Eagles, Heart, and others.  But, by the mid-1970s the renaissance was pretty much complete and disco had taken over and good old RnR was pretty much relegated to stadium rock.

Since the mid to late 1970s, new music did little for me.  Once in awhile new artists came along and tried something new…….it seemed to me that female artists were leading things in the mid 1990s for awhile:  Jewel, Sixpence None the Richer, Paula Cole, Sheryl Crow, McLachlan, Morissette, and a few others.  But, their time of prominence was a little short.  Grunge happened in the early 1990s but was only for a while, too.  An argument could be made that RnR fans migrated over to country music to a degree:  Garth Brooks, Shania Twain, Lonestar.

So, in short, I am glad that MLT is doing updated 1960s music and really enjoy it.  There are a couple of others who do some things from the 1960s, but also try to do other time periods and current things as well: Avonlea, Sina’s group, etc.

So, overall I am really glad that MLT is there is go back to the 1960s in part and put their unique style to the 1960s RnR.  Mike.

[Tomás F. Calvo]

Jung, that is a great post, and I agree 100%. The biggest impact The Beatles had on me was the “vibe” or energy that they brought of joy and happiness, which I haven’t felt to such an extent in any other artist until the MonaLisa Twins (maybe Monty Python). It’s clear to me that they, as the Beatles did, understand there’s much misery in the world and want to lighten up this joint as much as possible. To me, that means a lot.

[Jung Roe]

Mike, Tomas, thank you both for that.  MLT are indeed the hope for the future of rock/pop music as the direction of the current music scene appear to have no direction other than a downward spiral in it’s current trajectory, as many fans of rock/pop have lost interest in it over the recent decades and have gone to other genres, like country, or in my particular case to classical after the early 90’s, or back to the music of the 60’s and early 70’s for others.  The music from that time, the Renaissance, is really timeless and that style is as relevant today as it was back then.  Stuff from the 50’s pre Beatles you can take it or leave it for me as it all sounds dated, but “A Day in The Life”, “Let It Be”, “Hey Jude”, “Satisfaction”, “Brown Sugar”, “Wild Horses”, “My Generation”, “Time of the Season”, “Good Vibrations” etc the list goes on.  They sound as good and inspiring today as they did when they first came out.  That is  the mark of great music.  Mona and Lisa said a great thing in that last big interview with Robert Rodgriguez.  What is Beatlesque?  The Beatles may have started it, but the Rolling Stones, The Who, The Doors, Bob Dylan etc in the 60’s caught on to it.  It is just great music writing that legions of great bands caught on to.

As Mona and Lisa work on their new music right now for their next album, you can be sure they are thinking the same things Paul McCartney talked about, making music to have a positive impact on peoples lives as art, not entertainment which is what popular music of today has turned into.